Revised services unveiled for Woodley, Earley, Reading University and Royal Bekrshire Hospital

Bus passengers in Woodley, Earley and the University of Reading will see some major changes to their services from July.

Reading Buses has unveiled new plans which will see a 10 minute frequency on the claret routes and new links to Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) for people in Silverdale Road and Beech Lane.

A new 'nineteens' service will also be introduced to increase use in the area, particularly for people in Erleigh Road, Addington Road and students who will be living in new halls of residence near Whiteknights Road from September.

Jake Osman, Reading Buses marketing and communications manager, said: "Some of our proposals were quite controversial and we had over 300 responses to our consultation.

"As a result of this and discussions with local groups and councillors, we have managed to make some considerable changes to our initial proposals that should please many people who at first were concerned about our plans."

Three different 'nineteen' services, the 19a, 19b and 19c will combine to provide a 20 minute frequency between central Reading, RBH and Whiteknights Road/Earley Gate.

The claret 21 will retain its current route and run an increased 10-minute daytime service. This service will run 24 hours a day from September 1 with a half hourly service between 11pm and 3am and then hourly afterwards.

An additional bus, 21a, will run between central Reading and the university from September 22 which, combined with claret 21, will provide a five-minute frequency service between those two destinations.

Another alteration to come about from the consultation is an increased frequency of the nineteens during peak times and a special fare for Fairwater Drive residents to transfer between orange 14 and the other nineteens.